Catholic School Matters Top Five

Una cordial bienvenida a todos mis lectores bilingües.  Gracias por toda su ayuda sirviendo a nuestra Iglesia. Por favor haganme saber cómo les podemos ayudar servir a nuestros estudiantes y como hacerle para que nuestras escuelas Católicas entiendan cómo mejorar para que nuestra Iglesia sea más acogedora.

This week we celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This is a nice time to stop and ask, “Are we doing enough to prepare our schools for the future?”  Or perhaps better, “are we doing enough NOW to open our doors to the burgeoning Hispanic population?”  Already, Hispanic youth are the majority of Catholic youth.  This is not simply an enrollment issue—meaning we need to change a few signs in order to attract more students.  This is a critical Church issue.  Are we going to change our schools to reflect and to include the majority of Catholic youth?

If a prospective family were to walk around your school with no students present, would they feel like they belong?

I took a look at my library of curated content and decided to put it all together.  This is a bit of a deep dive but with a chance to relax around the corner, you might have a little more time to read!

Happy Sunday!  This week I’m presenting articles about serving more Hispanic students in Catholic schools.  As most of our schools struggle with enrollment, the growing under 18 Latino population begs for consideration.

My top 5:

  1. Watch this video by ACE which describes how Principal Joana Camacho and Sacred Heart School in Oklahoma City learned to welcome more Hispanic families
  2. Next, I encourage everyone to read the short study “Catholic Schools in an Increasingly Hispanic Church.” It is insightful and challenging.
  3. Hosffman Ospino (Boston College) authored “10 Ways Hispanics are Redefining American Catholicism in the 21st Century” in America magazine October 30th.
  4. Hospino and Boston College have been instrumental in promoting Two-Way Immersion. US Catholic published a great article explaining the purpose and method of this system of schools.
  5. A 2015 article entitled “Pope Will Find US Church Struggling to Hold Onto Latinos” is just as relevant today.

Have a great week!